


Ashes

by oregonbud



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 14:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15145496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oregonbud/pseuds/oregonbud
Summary: The bomb was set, and the ship was ready. Shepard, on the other hand, sure as hell wasn't.-A oneshot I did for creative writing class. Had to kind of tone down the romantic tension of that last scene since I was worried my teacher would freak.





	Ashes

“Ash.” Kaidan whispered, as the ship had flown off the planet, and the explosion had run its course. 

“She’s gone, Kaidan.” Shepard sighed, his eyes dry from the dust and gas he had run through during the mission. “I couldn't save you both. The bomb…”

“I know. I just wish we could have...well, I don’t know...just something could have been done to save her. It’s so stupid. It all is.” Kaidan ran his hands through his hair, signs of sweat still apparent on his neck. His face was worn and tired; he stood up and Shepard noticed a few scratches on his face.

“Kaidan, head to the med-bay, please. We are done discussing this.”

“But I’m fine-”

“Please, Kaidan.” Shepard raised his voice, and the rest of the crew in the room noticed. Kaidan nodded after a few seconds of hesitation, and silently left.

“This meeting is over. Dismissed.” The other crew members left fairly quick, their eyes darting to Shepard who had stood up and nodded at each of them. As quick as they left, Shepard sunk down into one of the chairs, his body weak and tired after the long mission. It was nothing like he had been told it would be. The bomb, Ashley, all the facilities, gone, in only a few minutes. The explosion had rung loud in the survivor’s ears, the view of an empty place fading away as the ship had left. Shepard hoped Kaidan would be able to recover, but doubted it. Ashley meant a lot to him. It would take time.

Later that day, after the crew rested for a while and returned to their duties, Shepard received a message over the intercom that the leaders of their galaxy, the Council, wanted to meet with him. He could tell by the way he was rushed to the meeting after landing that it was urgent. The escorts all gave him looks that seemed to say you’re in trouble now.  
He learned from the political leaders that he was to stay where he was, his ship grounded and unable to leave for an unknown amount of time. It was because of his previous actions, he assumed, which was confirmed by one of the council members, and the leader of the human embassy, Ambassador Udina. Shepard had trusted Udina (even if only slightly), and now was betrayed and alone. Walking back to his ship was the most peaceful yet tedious moment of his life.  
When finally entering, Shepard walked over to one of the tech panels, staring at it for a few minutes, and attempted to get the ship out of it’s lock. He failed several times before finally just sitting down and resting his head against the wall.

“Shepard?” He heard a familiar voice, opening his eyes and looking up at the figure standing near him.

“Hey, Kaidan.”

“Are… you alright?” Kaidan looked down at Shepard with worried eyes. 

“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Listen, I know that’s not true. You walk onto the ship with dry eyes and a sad face, of course I’ll worry about you. You just got your ship grounded.”

“Control panels are all down. They seem quite sure that I’m a pest and no help to them.”

“So what will we do? Just wait here? Let the whole galaxy be destroyed in the process? Are we just pawns to them?”

“Can’t just pull out a good old-fashioned ‘it’ll be alright’, can you?” Shepard smiled.

“It’s that easy, huh? Okay then. Everything will be fine, Shepard. You’ll make it through.”

“That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Shepard smiled, and Kaidan reached out a hand to help him up. Standing up a bit too quick for Kaidan to react, Shepard fell forward, Kaidan catching him and letting a small chuckle slip.

“Thank you, Kaidan.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now go save our ship.”


End file.
